According to medical researchers at this year’s American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) Plastic Surgery conference in Chicago, breast tissues from breast reduction patients should be pathologically examined to assess breast cancer risk, regardless of the patient’s age. Many hospitals and plastic surgeons currently mandate that all removed tissues be submitted for pathological examination. Some wonder if this compulsory testing is truly cost effective.
The experts presenting at this prestigious annual conference claim that in today’s cost-conscious era, medical professionals want to know how they can reduce expenses by eliminating unnecessary tests. Dr. Kristin Stueber and her colleagues developed a study to determine the need for pathological tissue exams in breast reduction patients of all ages. This medical team gathered pertinent information from the records of 300 women who had breast reduction surgery between 1991 and 1999 at a Massachusetts hospital.
In each of these cases, tissue samples were sent to the lab for examination. Twelve percent of all these breast reduction patients (36 women), aged 16 to 73, had an abnormal tissue reading, indicating a risk of breast cancer. Of these patients, eight percent had low-risk legions, while the remaining women had moderate- to high-risk lesions. Two of the ten women with higher-risk lesions were under the age of 40.
The cost of examining tissue samples from the patients in this study averaged about $382. Had only the women over the age of 40 been tested, the total savings would have been more than $81,680. Despite this seemingly high total in savings, Dr. Stueber states, “If we were to limit our pathological examination of breast tissue to breast reduction patients older than 40, we would fail to identify 20 percent of moderate to high risk pathology, which is not an acceptable risk. Besides the potential cost savings in testing, the cost for treating a cancer patient down the road is certainly more than any savings we could produce in the short term.”
Dr. Stueber and her research team conclude that pathological tissue examination after breast reduction surgery should be conducted for all patients, regardless of age, to determine their risk for breast cancer.
According to the ASPS, more than 105,000 women underwent breast reduction surgery in 2004 alone. If the findings of this study were applied to this total population of breast reduction patients, testing only women over the age of 40 would have missed 633 cases of moderate to high-risk tissue abnormalities.
Early detection of breast cancer risks reduces the cost of treatment, but more importantly, it saves lives. Medical experts strongly recommend that all women who undergo breast reduction surgery receive a pathological examination, regardless of age. If you or a loved one is going to have breast reduction surgery, you may wish to talk with your plastic surgeon about having a pathological examination performed.